The most powerful patriarch in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 23

"Lu Yuanfeng, the current patriarch of the Lu Clan in Fuzhou, recommends Lu Changle as the next patriarch. All clan elders and house heads have no objection. It is hereby announced that Lu Changle is the No. 70 patriarch of Fuzhou Lu Clan, effective immediately." The second uncle looked solemn declared.

All agreed.

At this time, the old patriarch's face was as pale as paper, his breathing became heavy, and he said intermittently: "Jin Yuan, Xiaoer"

The two of them held the old patriarch's hand each, and endured the pain in their hearts: "Old ancestor, in"

"You are the elders, you have to help Brother Le, whether the Lu family can prosper or not, depends on him."

"Listen to my ancestors, and I will definitely help Brother Le wholeheartedly," the two quickly agreed.

The ancestor's hands were cold, and his body temperature was still disappearing.

"The public house is empty. I will keep things simple. As for what the old man left, leave it to Brother Le."

"I listen to my ancestors"

"Okay, then I'm relieved too. Let's go"

After saying the last word, the old patriarch loosened his hands, tilted his body, and passed away with a smile on his face.

The knife in the stomach missed the point, but he drank too much alcohol and was too old.

If it weren't for the old mountain ginseng that continued to live, no matter how strong the will of the old patriarch was, he wouldn't be able to last that long.

After explaining the funeral, as soon as he breathed a sigh of relief, the person disappeared.

"Old ancestor" the second uncle yelled and knelt on the ground crying.

All the people present knelt on the ground to see the respectable old man for the last time.

When the news spread outside the ancestral hall, everyone fell to their knees, and many cried into tears.

Overnight, every family in Xingping Village hung white banners, and everyone wore plain clothes.

Everyone was sad for the old patriarch and the few clansmen who died tragically,

The ancestors left the last words to keep everything simple, even if it is simple, there must be no less rituals.
No one enforces, no one organizes,

There is one family in the Lu family in Fuzhou, who consciously hangs white flags in front of the door and throws paper money at the intersection,
Said that he was afraid that when the ancestors returned to their souls, they would not be able to find their way home.

The Lu family in Fuzhou is the home of our ancestors.
Those who guard the spirit can't kneel down in the ancestral hall, so they all line up in the sun-drying field opposite.

The daily activities of Xingping Village came to a standstill, there was no one in the fields, even the daily martial arts practice was suspended,
Either to take care of the injured clansmen, or to help deal with the funeral of the clansmen who died tragically,
You have to keep watch for your ancestors.

Others can put down what they are doing to bid farewell to their ancestors, but Lu Changle and a group of elders and Fangtou can't do it.
While dealing with the funeral affairs of the ancestors and the murdered clansmen, they are also preparing for the government's tax arrears.

No matter what happens, the government will close the door and arrest people if the deadline is reached.

The ancestral hall is doing ceremonies, and there are many people guarding the spirit. Lu Changle changed the meeting to the hall where the old patriarch lived before his death.

The old patriarch had a will long ago. After his death, the house will be the residence of the patriarch.

The second uncle was in charge of the family account, briefly talked about the recent expenses, and then said with some seriousness:

"The public housing really can't afford the money. The deadline for the government to urge taxes is only three days. Everyone should think about how to respond to the government."

It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice, and without money, the second uncle can't change.

Everyone didn't speak, and all their eyes fell on Lu Changle.

There is no hope for the tea mountain. Zheng Du took people to the village to ask the teacher to ask the crime, and smashed the tea mountain.
The tea leaves were either robbed or destroyed. I heard that many tea trees were also cut down.

Now I'm counting on Lu Changle,
When Lu Changle gave the gold to the ancestors, everyone present saw it and heard with their own ears that Lu Changle said that there were thousands of taels of silver.

It's just that how many of these refined gold and silver belong to the public house, everyone doesn't know.

Lu Changle said confidently: "Second uncle, don't worry, apart from the rewards promised to Changhe and Changzhen in advance, 82 taels of gold and 930 six taels of silver will be able to enter the public house in a short while, plus the remaining money of the public house , the taxes owed to the government, the funeral of the ancestors, and the expenses of the death and injury of the patriarch should be able to handle it."

The patriarch has great power, and the clan elders and house heads have high seniority. Lu Changle and the clan elders have made appointments to discuss their own affairs.
Second Uncle and the others are called Patriarch Lu Changle, and Lu Changle also respects them as a junior.

Of course, when it comes to major events, the patriarch has the final say.

"So many?" Second Master Qing's old eyes were as big as bull's eyes.

The second uncle heard a sigh of relief: "Great, with this money, the urgent need can be relieved, Changle. No, patriarch, you have done a great job."

It's called getting used to it, and I can't turn it around for a while.

Lu Jinqing rubbed his hands, and said expectantly: "Patriarch, gold and silver can be refined from garbage, so it's better to make big tickets. Our whole clan is dispatched to make a good sum of money. With money, everything will be easy. "

A few brats made more than 700 taels of silver in a few days. If the Lu family in Fuzhou were all dispatched, wouldn't they want to get rich.

Lu Changle shook his head and said: "It's not that garbage can be refined into gold, but only garbage containing gold and silver can be refined. I've refined everything that can be refined. Don't worry about it, at least not in the near future."

The land gold scattered on the ground and in the water in Changhe Street, even the land gold in the hut, was all taken away by Lu Changle,
If you want to practice again, at least it will take a year or two.

"So that's the case, it's a pity." Lu Jinqing sat down disappointed.

Lu Changle looked at Lu Changfu, and asked in a calm tone: "Brother Changfu, what do you want to say, you are all from your own family, but it's okay to say it"

I saw Lu Changfu hesitate to speak a few times, obviously he had something to say.

After the death of the old patriarch, Lu Changfu changed obviously. He who used to be high-spirited became much depressed.

Lu Changfu said bitterly: "Patriarch, elders of the clan, Changfu is incompetent. He failed to keep the tea leaves, which brought trouble to the clan. Now he is about to break the contract again. For those tea leaves, he charged a deposit of 50 taels from the merchant, and if he breaks the contract, he will get ten times the compensation. "

Chashan, who has high hopes, can't hand over a penny to the public housing, and has to face sky-high compensation. Lu Changfu wants to die.

"After collecting the deposit and signing the contract, then we will act according to the contract." Lu Changle turned his head: "Second Uncle, can you deal with the government? There are so many tax arrears, and not everyone can make up for it."

The second uncle nodded and said: "The patriarch is right. There are too many people who owe taxes, and very few can make up all of them. Because the yamen servants are too urgent, there have been several tax resistance incidents in the past few days. Dozens of people have been killed or injured. I'm also relieved, you can pay [-]% first, and the remaining [-]% can be postponed."

After a pause, the second uncle added: "If the arrangement is in place, [-]% to [-]% of the work can be done."

The common people have no money in their hands, and they can't pay when they are urged. They are really forced to have nowhere to go.
The court certainly does not want the people to rebel,

Off the coast of Fujian, suffering from Japanese pirates and pirates, for the sake of defense, folks practice martial arts, and the government is also afraid of accidents.
To put it bluntly, the collected money is handed over to the court, not to the Zheng family.
Collecting less and leaving more wealth in Fujian will not do any harm to the Zheng family. It is only a matter of time before the Zheng family makes a move.

"Take care of what needs to be done, don't save, pay less if you can." Lu Changle quickly made up his mind.

It is estimated that before the money is confiscated, the Songjin War will come.

The Ming Dynasty was completely defeated on the Liaodong front, and the tax money collected might have been robbed by Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and the others on the way.

Even when he arrived in the capital, he would either fall into the pockets of those corrupt officials, or take advantage of Li Zicheng.

The building is about to collapse, and if it is used to fill Daming's useless bottomless pit, it is better to keep it and grow yourself.

The second uncle responded, and quickly said: "I've been busy for the past two days, and I just remembered that I made an appointment with the young owner of Shanxi Jiexiu Fan's Commercial Company tomorrow to talk about the tea mountain. Now that the money has been raised, the tea mountain has also been destroyed. I have to explain a thing or two to shopkeeper Fan Shao, the price he offered is actually quite sincere."

The young owner of Shanxi Jiexiu Fan's Commercial Bank?
Lu Changle's heart was shocked, and he almost forgot about it.

When I was looking for ways to make money in Changle City, I found a large-scale Dayuchuan tea shop in the city.

The Dayuchuan tea shop is owned by Fan Yongdou, a heroine, and Lu Changle doesn't like him at all.
At that time, I was in a hurry to raise money, and I didn't know more about it. It was only when my second uncle mentioned it that I remembered it.

"Shaodong's house? What's it called?" Lu Changle asked casually.

"Fan Qiongbiao, formerly known as Sanbo."

Lu Changle's heart was shocked, Fan San dialed?Fan Yongdou's own son?
The Battle of Songmian was a battle between the Ming Dynasty and Jianlu who gambled on the fate of the country.
As Jianlu's loyal running dog, Fan Yongdou will definitely do his best to serve Jianlu at this time,

At this most critical juncture, as Fan Yongdou's closest and most trusted person, Fan Sanbo is still in Fujian?

For the tea business in the district, do you need an important person like Fan Sanbo to sit in person?
It's not for the tea business, so what is Fan Sanbo's real purpose in Fujian?
Zheng Zhilong is the maritime overlord of Southeast Asia, with 20 sailors and countless warships under his command.
As the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, why did he never attack Jianlu by sea, so that he would not dare to act rashly?
At that time, Mao Wenlong on Mao Island had a small territory and insufficient manpower, and he kept Jianlu in check for many years.
If Zheng Zhilong was willing to send troops, Jianlu would never be as unscrupulous as he is now.

Lu Changle had a faint feeling that this matter was by no means simple.

(End of this chapter)